The instant invention relates to alkene functionalized, metal oxide, nanoparticle composites with polymerizable alkene matrix monomers primarily suitable for dental and medical restoration; i.e., dental restoratives and bone repair, and to the method of their use for such purposes and methods of manufacture. Other applications envisioned include optical elements, X-ray photoresists, and repair of materials.
There have been efforts made to generate functionalized metal oxide nanoparticles to make highly uniform composite materials; namely, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,877 by R. Nass et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,608 by U. Schubert et al. (see also H. Schmidt and H. Wolter, J. Non. Cryst. Solids, 121, 428 (1990). They claim a method for producing functionalized, photopolymerizable particles by replacing groups, R, in M(R)n with groups A which complex M and further contain functional groups which can be photopolymerized. The dispersed, individual metal oxide particles can be prepared by removing R completely, partially replacing by A and then by hydrolyzing to oxide with water. Alternatively, the oxyhydroxide particles may be preformed as M(O)z(OH)xRy and converted to M(O)z(OH)xAy by the loss of R. The preformed oxyhydroxide is formed by Nass et al. by the hydrolysis of the organometallic M(R)n by water directly or by water generated by reaction of acid and alcohol unlike Wellinghoff in U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,583 where the oxide is formed by direct ester exchange between a metal alkoxide and a strong organic acid thereby decreasing the number of required reactants.
There have been other attempts to form organic-inorganic hybrid glasses. However, in one case a silane functionalized polymer is hydrolyzed with water to form a network crosslinked by the resultant silica particles making removal of volatile reaction products difficult [Y. Wei et al., Chem. Mater., 2(4), 337 (1990); C. J. T. Landry et al., Polymer, 33(7), 1487 (1992)]. M. Ellsworth et al. [JACS, 113(7), 2756 (1991); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,412,043; 5,254,638] attempted to eliminate the composite shrinkage induced by removal of volatile reaction products by utilizing ring strained alkenoxysilanes and polymerizable solvents where all reaction by products contribute to the SiO2 network or the resultant interpenetrating, matrix, organic polymer. The expected packing disruption induced by the strained ring opening of the alkenoxysilane was a strategy for compensating for the shrinkage induced by conversion of double bonds to single bonds
Zero polymerization shrinkage is one of the most necessary features of a dental restorative so that accumulated stresses do not debond the dentin-restorative interface or fracture the tooth or restorative which can result marginal leakage and microbial attack. This feature is also important in bone repair and in accurate reproduction of photolithographic imprints and optical elements.
Other attempts have been made to reduce polymerization shrinkage by utilizing nematic liquid crystal monomers. The expected low polymerization shrinkage for such compounds originates from the high packing efficiency that already exists in the nematic state, thus minimizing the entropy reduction that occurs during polymerization. Liquid crystal monomers or prepolymers have another advantage in that the viscosity is lower than an isotropic material of the same molecular weight.
M. Aizawa et al. [JP H 5-178794, Jul. 30, 1993] disclose a bisalkene substituted liquid crystal crystal monomer that is suitable for dental restorative materials in combination with silica particle reinforcement. Latter H. Ritter [EP 0,754,675 A2] et al. also disclose liquid crystal monomers that might be suitable for dental applications; however, in neither of the above two patents was the liquid crystal nematic at room temperature or dental temperature. Reactive diluents were added to the original compounds to generate liquid monomers and it was not clear that liquid crystallinity was present in these mixtures. However, even more recently, J. Klee et al. [WO 97/14674] discuss two liquid crystal monomers that are nematic in the desired temperature range between room temperature and 37xc2x0 C.
Parent U.S. application Ser. No. 08/721,742, identified above, discloses bisalkene terminated liquid crystal monomers that form stable liquid crystalline melts between room temperature and 37xc2x0 C. and their composites with functionalized nanoparticles. This disclosure describes the nanoparticles formed by the reaction of trialkylchlorosilane, formic acid and tantalum alkoxide that are quite acidic in concentrated methanol solution and must be surface functionalized with the base, vinyl imidazole in order to neutralize the excess acidity. The alternative functionalization with an alkene phosphate suffers from the relative hydrolytic instability of the phosphate linkage and the low selectivity of the alkene dimethyl phosphate ester for reaction with Taxe2x80x94OH bonds. While very satisfactory, the composites are, however, hydrophilic, and this mitigates against their complete suitability for dental purposes.
The forgoing problems and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome by the instant invention which provides workable oxide-monomer mixtures with especially low polymerization shrinkage in the matrix resin while permitting high loading of strengthening materials and high matrix molecular weight, and yet permitting the matrix to strain soften, and flow onto/and or into areas to be cemented, coated, or restored, such as bone and tooth crevices, and to be polymerized between xe2x88x9240xc2x0 C. and +40xc2x0 C.
Briefly, the present invention comprises novel functionalized amphoteric nano-sized metal oxide particles, composites thereof, and transparent or translucent acrylate or methacrylate based matrix-metal oxide compositions with photopolymerizable room temperature nematics that have high strength and hardness with essentially zero shrinkage.
The invention also comprises the methods of making the composites and compositions as hereinafter set forth.
While the present invention can be carried out using any metal capable of forming amphoteric metal oxides to form the metal oxide nanoparticles, such as tantalum, niobium, indium, tin, titanium and the like, it will be described in connection with tantalum. Tantalum is particularly desired for dental and medical uses since it will provide X-ray opaque materials necessary for diagnosis by dental and medical personnel.
These tantalum nanoparticles are prepared as set forth in the parent application identified above by ester exchange of tantalum oxide with an acid such as formic acid. 
For this invention it is important that such nanoparticles be non-interacting without high surface acidity which is detrimental for dental applications, especially. In addition, it is preferable that the alkene be reacted with the oxide surface through a phosphonate linkage which has good hydrolytic stability and will react with Taxe2x80x94OH bonds only through the ester bonds. In order to make an especially active phosphonating species we reacted the dimethyl ester of the methacryl phosphonate with a silanating agent to form the hydrolytically unstable vinyl dimethyl silyl ester. The silanating agent can be a chloride, as shown below, or a bromide. 
This reaction is quite generic and can be utilized to form the any trialkylsilyl ester (for example, trimethylsilyl) of any functionalized phosphonate, including vinyl phosphonate. Suitable esters have the general formula: 
wherein R is a photopolymerizable group, such as a vinyl, acryl, or methacryl group, and Rxe2x80x2, Rxe2x80x3, and Rxe2x80x2xe2x80x3, which can be the same or different, are an alkyl or alkene group.
For purposes of further illustration, in addition to the trialkylsilyl ester of vinyl phosphonate, phosphonates having the following groups can also be used:
1. R is xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CH2 and Rxe2x80x2, Rxe2x80x3, and Rxe2x80x2xe2x80x3 are each xe2x80x94CH3; 
Rxe2x80x2xe2x80x3 is xe2x80x94CH2xe2x95x90CH2 
The silyl phosphonate ester can serve two purposes: one as a surface phosponating agent and the other as a surface silanating agent which will generate the hydrophobic surface necessary for incorporation into hydrophobic monomers. If the silane is alkene functionalized it will photopolymerize and immobilize into the matrix monomer, eliminating any possibility of migration out of the composite which could adversely affect the mechanical properties, such as shrinkage.
This reagent is conveniently incorporated into the preparation as set forth in the parent application identified above by ester exchange of tantalum ethoxide with an acid such as formic acid. Even though extensive phosphonating and silation of the tantalum oxyhydroxide take place the infrared spectrum still indicates a substantial amount of uncondensed Taxe2x80x94OH to be present.
The remaining accessible Taxe2x80x94OH can be further reduced by the addition of a trifunctional silane such as 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate to the formic acid mixture. This component is also of use since the multiple Taxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si bonds formed by the trifunctional silane are more hydrolytically stable than the monofunctional silanes. In addition, the silane effectively blocks access to unreacted Taxe2x80x94OH bonds. Thus, interparticle hydrogen bonding associations between Taxe2x80x94OH bonds on adjacent particles is blocked and premature phase separation of a tantalum rich phase in the hydrophobic matrix monomer is avoided.
Alternatively, the tantalum oxide can be prepared as in the parent application with the silyl phosphonate and trifunctional silane subsequently added to an alcohol solution of the tantalum oxide nanoparticles.
These tantalum oxide nano-sized particles, (nanoparticles) form highly acidic (pH=2-3) solutions in alcohols most probably due to absorbed acid. This is first removed by exposing the oxide solution to a crosslinked gel of poly 4-vinyl pyridine which increases the pH to 6, a value suitable for further composite manufacture. The particle size is not critical, with about 150 xc3x85 being a desirable size and over 100 xc3x85 being suitable.
A 10-30 wt % solution of tantalum oxide nanoparticles is then mixed with a solution of a matrix monomer which may be glycerol monomethacrylate, glycerol dimethacrylate, hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), 2,2-bis[p-(2xe2x80x2-hydroxy-3xe2x80x2-methacryloxypropoxy)phenylene]propane (Bis-GMA), or ethoxylated bis-GMA and various blends of these monomers in combination with known plasticizers, such as trithethyleneglycol dimethacrylate, and polypropylene oxide monomethacrylate and known photoinitiators such as camphorquinone and and photoactivators such as 2-n-butoxyethyl-4-(dimethylamino)benzoate.
After evaporation of the solvent under high vacuum at room temperature, a clear fluid mixture of the tantalum oxide and the matrix monomer is formed which can be cast into molds or coated onto substrates and photocured into a glassy transparent solid.
Composite fluids containing the more hydrophilic monomers are more stable to phase separation into a clear gel which probably contains interpenetrating tantalum rich and tantalum poor phases of such a small size scale ( less than 3000 xc3x85) that light scattering is minimized. Nanoparticles which are relatively more hydrophobic due to a more extensive reaction with the phosphonating or silanating reagents are also stable to phase separation in hydrophobic monomers.
For many applications which include biomedical repair, the cured composite must be resistant to swelling by saline solution at 37xc2x0 C. For this reason matrix monomer blends containing high concentrations of hydrophobic monomers like ethoxylated bis-GMA are to be preferred over those containing hydrophilic monomers such as HEMA. Surface swelling by saline results in surface solvent crazing which can be deleterious to the physical strength of the composite.
Parent application Ser. No. 08/721,742 noted above describes the use of bis acrylate and methacrylate terminated liquid crystals which are especially useful as matrix monomers. Of special interest are bis-(4-(6-acrylolyloxyhexyl-1-oxy)benzoyl)2-(t-butyl)quinone (C6(H, TB,H) and bis-(4-(10-acrylolyloxydecyl-1-oxy)benzoyl)2-(t-butyl)quinone (C10(H,TB,H) both of which are nematic liquid crystals between room temperature and 40xc2x0 C. In addition to the hexyl and decyl groups it is possible to make suitable nematic liquid crystals utilizing other oligoethylene groups such as heptyl, octyl, and nonyl groups. Although molecules of this general structure have been synthesized, practical application in low polymerization shrinkage applications was precluded because of the development of crystallinity at room temperature which effectively prevents manipulation of the material. However, the novel substitution of the central aromatic group with an especially bulky group such as t-butyl was found to suppress crystallinity at room temperature while still permitting the nematic state to exist. Both could be photopolymerized to about 2% linear polymerization shrinkage (5.9% volumetric shrinkage) at about 50% double bond conversion; this volumetric shrinkage is more than 2.6xc3x97 less than typical commercial, unfilled resins. Addition of filler should be able to reduce this substantially because of the volume filling effect.
Even though C6(H,TB,H) of purities less than 95% can""t crystallize from the melt, material purified to 99+% by column chromatography could be very slowly crystallized from methanol and diethyl ether to produce a solid that melted at 67xc2x0 C. Once melted, however, the material would not recrystallize in the absence of solvent. The expensive column separation could be avoided by seeding the crude liquid crystal in methanol suspension at xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C. with the column prepared crystals. The observation that the crude material can be solvent crystallized, but not melt crystallized is an important since it provides a cheaper recrystallization route to purification that might not rely on expensive column separation and, in addition, the desirable stability of the liquid crystalline state to premature crystallization and solidification at room temperature is maintained.
The purified C6(H,TB,H) underwent a combined smectic or nematic to isotropic transformation at 43xc2x0 C. which is above the mouth temperature of 37xc2x0 C., thus making it useful for polymerization out of the liquid crystalline state. A glass transition appeared at xe2x88x9240xc2x0 C.
C6(H,TB,H) of only 90% purity (crude), and 95% purity (semicrude), respectively, either never crystallized or crystallized even more slowly to a lower melting, partially crystalline material (melting point=60xc2x0 C.). In addition the smectic to isotropic and nematic to isotropic transition temperatures diverged, now changing to Ts- greater than n=25xc2x0 C., Tn- greater than isotropic=42xc2x0 C. for the semicrude material and Ts- greater than n=18xc2x0 C., Tn- greater than isotropic=40xc2x0 C. The major impurity in this material seemed to be a hydrochlorinated derivative of C6(H,TB,H), HCl (e.g. CH2Clxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94C(O)xe2x80x94) that was generated in the acrylolyation step and was impossible to separate by column chromatography and showed a strong tendency to cocrystallize with C6(H,TB,H). It""s immediate effect was to completely inhibit the ability of the C6(H,TB,H) to melt crystallize; however, no suppression of the Tn- greater than isotropic was noted up to at least 14% of C6(H,TB,H),HCl. Thus a clear strategy for retarding crystallization besides including a t-butyl group on the central aromatic ring is to mix liquid crystal having different end groups but the same t-butyl substituted central aromatic structure.
The importance of the above result is that considerable amounts of soluble impurity can be added to the liquid crystalline material without changing its Tnematic- greater than isotropic transition temperature. Thus, a high volume fraction of tantalum oxide or silicon-tantalum oxide nanoparticles (semisoluble xe2x80x9cimpurityxe2x80x9d)can be added to the liquid crystal and the resultant composite can maintain the desirable, low viscosity flow and low polymerization shrinkage characteristics of the continuous liquid crystal matrix at room temperature up to dental use temperatures.
Highly purified C6(H,TB,H) can be codissolved with at least 30 wt % tantalum oxide nanoparticles in a variety of solvents to make clear solutions. Once the solvent is pumped off a translucent pasty fluid is generated which contains partially crystallized C6(H,TB,H) nucleated by the tantalum oxide phase. These monomer crystals can be melted at 60xc2x0 C. and a clear isotropic melt can be obtained down to 42xc2x0 C. at which temperature the nematic phase is formed. This thermotropic transition is fully reversible. After an extended period; however, the C6(H,TB,H) will recrystallize. The crystallization can be avoided if melts containing more than about 5% of C6(H,TB,H), HCl are employed.
The compositions are prepared by mixing functionalized metal oxide nanoparticles with a photo or thermally polymerizable matrix monomer or prepolymer. The specific non-aqueous method of producing the oxide particles permits alkene functionalized (R) phosphonates and silanes to be bound to the metal oxide through xe2x80x94(Mxe2x80x94O)2xe2x80x94P(O)xe2x80x94R, xe2x80x94(Mxe2x80x94O)4xe2x88x92xSi(R)x, x=1-3 linkages. The functionalized metal oxide particle is formed when activated molecules such as silyl phosphonates [CH2xe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94Si(Me)2xe2x80x94O]2xe2x80x94P(O)R or (MeO)4xe2x88x92xSi(R)x condense with Mxe2x80x94OH bonds formed during the synthesis of the metal oxide nanoparticles. The silyl phosphonate is unique in that it will not only phosphate the surface but will also generate a silanol in situ which will silanate the surface of the nanoparticle. Metal phosphonate bonds are advantageous since they are more hydrolytically stable than metal silanol bonds.
The hydrophobicity of the nanoparticle can be increased by increasing the number of functionalized Mxe2x80x94OH bonds. The ability to alter the surface of the nanoparticle in a controlled way permits control of the working time of the unpolymerized composite and modification of the final cured microphase structure of the composite material.
For example if a hydrophobic, matrix monomer and hydrophilic nanoparticles are dissolved in a common hydrophilic, solvent evaporation of the solvent will yield an initially mobile fluid which will rapidly phase separate to form an elastic gel. Elastic properties are generated by an interpenetrating network phase of hydrophilic metal oxide nanoparticles within the hydrophobic matrix. If on the other hand hydrophobic, matrix monomer and relatively hydrophobic nanoparticles are mixed in a common solvent and the solvent is evaporated, microphase separation will proceed more slowly providing increased working or storage time in the mobile state. With increased working time the kinetic development of phase separation can be terminated at different stages by polymerization of the matrix monomer or prepolymer. Interconnectedness of the oxide network can have a strong influence on mechanical, permeability and electrical conductivity of the material.
By appropriate matching of the surface properties of the nanoparticles and the matrix monomer it is possible to make a one phase system or generate a very fine phase separation that is insufficient to scatter light. This is of specific importance in many applications since the ability to uniformly photocure several millimeter thicknesses of material to a solid is rendered. In addition, opacifying particles can be added to the transparent base for better control of cosmetic features.